A Home
by Kage kioku aji tenshi
Summary: Summary: Blair had lived in a lot of places but the Loft was the first he'd actually called home.
1. Chapter 1

Summary: Blair had lived in a lot of places but the Loft was the first he'd actually called home.

* * *

Blair had lived in a lot of places, most of them far from what one would consider normal society. For the most part Blair had loved it, the places, the people, the stories he'd been able to tell.

But there was still something that he'd never had, never got while travelling around the world.

A lot of people, when he told his stories, were envious, they'd call him lucky with a grin, especially his fellow Anthropology students. He came into the field with so much experience with other cultures that it made some of them jealous and hateful.

Jim would laugh at the idea of Anthropology students being capable of hating anything or being cruel but Blair had had T.A.s 'lose' papers that he had turned in or marking down his grades from what the teacher had given, he'd spent several of his semesters making sure his grades were properly recorded after that first one where he hadn't realized that some people were just spiteful.

His mother had tried to use it as an excuse to leave school but Blair had stuck it out and had made a promise to never let his personal opinions effect a student's work or grades.

Blair liked to tell his students real stories, most of them from his own experiences, it was one of the things that he'd had students tell him was so enjoyable about his class, that so few of his stories were second hand, most of them from his childhood, some of them tinged with a child's simplicity and focused on an aspect that an adult wouldn't care for.

Blair had told stories about the games Aboriginal tribes in Australia had played, he didn't talk much about their mythologies except to tell them how they'd been told in deep rumbling voices that sounded like cascading thunder with smoke all around the children gathered that was reminiscent of the Dreamtime. He told them about sleeping under the stars because the Tribes didn't use structures.

There were other stories of places Blair had slept, the stone structures of Europe, the ones made from Adobe in the Mexican desert, mud huts in Africa, huts made from twigs and mud there too. Log houses and brick mansions that dated back to the beginning of the U.S. and how if one talked to the right person there were still secret passages to wander.

What he didn't say was that it was one of these secret passages that he'd been shown in Italy that he'd discovered a secret study. It had been there that Blair had found Richard Burton's Book on Sentinels, there had been handwritten notes everywhere and Blair had spent the summer of his eleventh year carefully going through them and copying them down as he was afraid to take them out of the room. He'd never been so glad that his mother's current beau didn't want to give him the time of day.

He'd been so disappointed and sad when his mother had quietly told him that it was time to detach with love at the end of the summer. He'd taken the book that Burton had writen on Sentinels and his copied notes and bid the house in Italy farewell. Years later he had been devastated to learn that a fire had burned the old house down, Burton's notes and papers with it, turned to ashes, never to be read again.

Blair had carried that book in his backpack everyday until Jim had let him stay at the Loft, when it had been placed gently and reverently on the shelf that Jim had put in his room after moving most of his books to one of the other ones in the living room, it was the first of many to grace the shelf and Blair never analyzed why he took it from his bag that night after the Warehouse burned, never even gave it a second thought.

Blair had lived a lot of places and with a lot of different people, some who were law abiding citizens and some who weren't, not that their abidance of laws had made them good or bad people.

His mother had dated a Mob Boss in New Jersey for almost a year, not that Naomi had known who her boyfriend was and when she found out she'd had a surprisingly reasonable argument that she had given him before she had packed Blair up and left. Blair had been thirteen and Naomi had told him the exact reasons they were leaving this time and while Blair had loved Mister Ivanov he'd also understood why it would be safer far from them, so he had said his goodbyes to Mister Ivanov and Illya, who had looked after him, and left with a hundred dollar bill in his pocket and two hundred dollars in small bills in an envelope in his backpack, 'Just in case, Pasha.' Illya had told him as they hugged for the last time.

That two hundred was still in his backpack, replaced if he ever used it, just like the hundred in his wallet.

He'd used them both a few times, when his mother had gone another retreat that didn't allow kids and the people he'd been staying with thought he'd worn out his welcome and told him to beat it.

There had been a few stories told about Homeless culture as a result of those times and before then, not that Blair ever let Jim or even Simon hear those stories, they already thought little of Naomi's parenting Blair didn't want to hear more about how bad she'd been at it if they heard about him having lived on the streets, especially as Naomi had been nowhere to be found most of the times Blair had been making his way on the streets of whatever city he'd been left in.

But he had made so many friends, still talked to some of them once they'd gotten back on their feet and off the streets.

It was this reason that Blair tried not to judge people by their circumstances, he'd had prostitutes find him of the street after running away from an abusive foster home and give him a place to sleep safely, they had fed him and kept the foster mother from finding him until his mom had come back to get him and then they had handed over the bruises they had documented to the police when Naomi had filed charges and more paperwork to get him back from the system.

There had also been the drug dealers that had found out the prostitutes were keeping a kid around and offering to keep an eye on him while the girls worked and had threatened a few human traffickers against trying to take him from the girls.

But Blair tended not to tell those stories, and if he did he tried to never mention professions and if he could get away with it he never mentioned names either, it had been one of the prostitutes' regular Johns that had taught him to drive a Semi, he'd take him across the state when he went and no one else could keep an eye on him, Blair had called him uncle by the end of that summer and the man stopped in on him when he was in state, he'd married the woman that he use to pay to sleep with and they had three kids now.

Blair knew he'd been lucky about not meeting many creeps that would prey on children, though he'd run across a few of those as well, he'd always managed to escape them or hide from them before they could hurt him more than mental trauma and a bit of bruising.

Some of his favorite places to live had been where cultures were clashing together, it always made for an interesting study and when Blair had decided at twelve to pursue Anthropology he'd made a point of taking notes one everything he'd seen in those places and all the others, he'd had to leave the notes behind when Naomi got bit by her wandering bug and he often wondered what had become of his notes after he'd left, if the people had read them and dumped them or if they had kept them in the off chance that Blair would find his way back.

Knowing how often Naomi and Blair had disappeared into the night when everything was quiet, often without an explanation or note Blair wondered if some people that they had left behind wondered what happened to them, it had to be jarring to go to sleep next to the woman you were loving, her kid asleep in the guest room or on the couch only to wake in the morning alone and all the things but the most important still scattered all over the place.

But Blair didn't know that for sure, his mother had always warned him she was leaving him behind or he was the one doing the leaving. Most of the time Blair had been able to prepare for Naomi's vanishing or his own, if he had been leaving a place without warning when he was younger Blair had been doing so for his own safety.

Even his time in Cascade he'd lived a lot of different places, the Warehouse being the last of more than a dozen in just the two years.

He'd lived in the dorms as a minor student and had been given a curfew which had required a mandatory check in by the resident at eight to make sure he was in bed or getting ready to go to bed, not that they had checked everyday after his first semester, by the time he'd turned eighteen the resident had only been checking in on him twice a month randomly to make sure he was doing okay and Blair hadn't minded so much, he'd gotten more supervision in his first year at Rainer than he had during most of his childhood.

But he had left the dorms as soon as he hit eighteen and had gone through over twenty apartments with various roommates, some of them women that wanted a relationship with him and some who just weren't comfortable living alone in the city or even just with only girls in the house, some of them just felt safer when Blair lived with them and Blair hadn't minded playing the gay friend when their boyfriends asked him why he lived with a bunch of girls, it made the boyfriends feel more secure in their relationships with their girlfriends and if sometimes they ended up talking out an issue with Blair to get another guy opinion well Blair thought it was kind of fascination that they thought he could see both sides of the argument and somehow translate girl speak to guy speak and help them understand just what their girlfriend was actually angry about, there had been several times that Blair had been tempted to write a paper about it.

He saw some of those guys around the Police Department, some of them had even pulled him aside outside of the police department to ask if there was something between Jim and him, promising him at the start of the conversation that they would say nothing about it if there was. All of them would glare at the people who gossiped about it and some of them had even given Blair opportunities to escape hassling when he was still new around the Department, before Major Crimes had adopted him as their mascot.

Not that they knew that Blair knew they called him that.

There had even been six months where Blair had bounced between couches and a couple shelters if they could squeeze him in, if they hadn't then Blair had found a place to sleep with the rest of the homeless people on the streets, Blair had been lucky that it had been summer, when Cascade was at it's warmest, not that that was very warm but it was better than being homeless in Cascade in winter, he still wandered around sometimes after he was done with classes and gave out blankets he picked up and washed at the thrift stores at his old haunts, some faces familiar and some new, he'd also take the extra clothes and wash them at Jim's and then bring them back. There was even a time or two that Blair had bought interview outfits for someone.

Blair knew that if he ever asked around for information on a case he'd get some nearly instantly but no one ever asked him to source information at a crime scene and Blair never offered, even if he recognized some of the looky-loos.

Blair even knew some of the richer people in Cascade, some of them had huddled with him for warmth that summer he'd spent living on the streets of Cascade and Blair had helped them prepare for that interview and they'd gotten it and moved up and Blair had grinned proudly, refusing the offers of help because he'd gotten a grant to write a paper on the Homeless culture in Cascade and it was easier to get information for it when he was submersed in it.

Some of them had even bought a building and made another shelter for them to go and Blair would tell people about it and send them over and they could get either the help they needed or a place to sleep and a meal.

Blair volunteered at the Shelter when he had the time or made volunteering there and writing a paper on the culture that the students noticed among the homeless or the workers extra credit when he couldn't.

Blair had even camped at the Police Department for a couple nights when the Warehouse owner had told him to stay gone for a week, the reason why Blair hadn't known. But it had been terrifyingly easy to keep the men of Major Crimes from finding out that he was sleeping at the department, even Jim and Simon, Vera from Human Resources had discovered him there but Blair had gotten her some chocolate from Paris, sent from an old friend that he knew lived there, and a perfume that the friend's wife favored and she'd promised to keep her silence about it.

But somehow it was different now, the Loft was different than any other place Blair had stayed and Blair had no idea why it was different.

Blair hadn't even planned on staying longer than the promised week, he had already made plans for Larry, sending notice to the person he'd borrowed Larry from that he would be bring Larry back then and then during the week seeing what availability there was among the students for a roommate for a couple of months.

He'd had to break into his backpack money for food and to replace the things Larry had trashed in the Loft and gas but that was fine, he'd skate by like he always did.

Then the week had been over and Larry was back where he belonged and Blair had looked around the little room that he'd been sleeping in, packed most of his stuff before leaving to go to his morning class at Rainer, he'd collect his things when he got back before Jim got back from the station.

After his classes were over, Blair returned to the Loft and paused before the small room, someone had put doors in the doorway instead of the curtains that had hung there for the last week. He opened the French doors and peeked into the room.

The boxes that had been within were gone and there was a futon in the room now against the wall, folded up into a couch position rather than a bed and next to the book shelf Jim had cleared off for his use was a small desk. His packed bags were set on top of the futon along with the bedding he'd been using.

Blair stepped into the small room and stood in the center of it silently, his eyes landing on the shelf, bare of all of the books he'd replaced or borrowed, all but one.

Blair lifted the book from the shelf, 'The Sentinels of Paraguay' by Sir Richard Burton. He sat down in the chair that had appeared with the desk and opened the book, turning the pages carefully.

"I thought you'd be more comfortable with a bed." Jim said from the door.

Blair looked up startled, he hadn't even heard the door open.

"I... my week is over." Blair said.

Jim shrugged, "Yeah, but you know, it isn't so bad having you around."

Blair stared at him, mentally translating Jim's nonchalantness and realizing that maybe the man wanted him to stay but didn't want to make it seem like he wanted Blair to stick around.

Blair shut the book gently and stood, placing the book back on the shelf and walking over to Jim.

"That would be great, I'd really like that." Blair grinned up at Jim.

"Good, unpack your stuff and I'll order Thai." Jim said and walked out of the room, shutting the door behind him.

Blair smiled after him and turned around, looking at everything that Jim had put in his room, he'd have to figure out what every thing had cost or at least who Blair should thank for everything.

Blair had lived a lot of places, stayed in a lot of rooms very similar in size, style and even had the same things in it, but this, this all felt different...

It felt like more.

It felt like home.

"Hey, Chief, what did you want?" Jim asked as he opened the door a crack.

Blair turned to Jim and smiled and followed Jim to the living room telling him what he wanted as they went.

Yeah, Home was a good word for it.

* * *

So with all Blair's travels and his friendliness I find it hard to believe that he wouldn't know people at the Police Department other than the ones he met through Jim, he just never really mentioned it and Blair nods and waves to everyone.

I was having a Blair moment and thought I would write something about all the places he lived but never called home.

I don't know, enjoy.


	2. Birthday

Summary: Blair was used to not celebrating his birthday, he may have to start.  
Sort of a sequel to my story A Home, there are some elements taken from that story and used here, mostly Blair's background. I'm fairly sure you can read this on it's own but I might be wrong.

* * *

Blair grinned at Jim, they had just finished the case and Jim handed the killer over to Henri Brown to put in a squad car.

"Ah man. Wow!" Blair exclaimed, he was still shocked sometime about the rush that came with chasing a suspect with Jim.

"I told you to stay in the truck." Jim glared at Blair.

"But what if something happened?" Blair asked innocently as they climbed into the truck to head to the department for the paperwork.

"That's what Simon and the other cops are for." Jim snapped.

"Whatever man." Blair rolled his eyes, as much as he knew his chasing after Jim worried the Sentinel Blair also knew that man was glad for his being there when things went wrong.

They road in silence the rest of the drive and Blair shook his head as Jim climbed out of the truck, ignoring him, classic Ellison avoidance technique, Blair thought almost clinically as he followed.

Two hours of quietly doing the paperwork and Blair was printing out the forms and handing them over for Jim to sign, who in turn went to file them.

Blair then pulled up a couple of back logged paperwork to complete and only looked up when a throat cleared loudly.

Blair looked up ad had to grin at Evan Lenards, an old friend from back when he had roomed with Evan's girlfriend when he was younger.

"Hey, what's up, man?" Blair asked.

"Emily called and wanted to know what you were up to tonight." Evan said.

Blair frowned in confusion, "Not much, why?"

"Come on, Blue, not even a date?" Evan teased, Evan was one of the few men at the police department that Blair had trusted with his inappropriate crush on his partner and the other cop teased him all the time about it as vaguely as possible.

"What's so important about today?" Blair asked still confused.

"You're pulling my leg right, Blue?" Evan laughed loudly, drawing the attention of the men of Major Crimes, pulling Jim and Simon to the door of Simon's office.

"Hey, man, Jim and I were on stakeout for the last twenty-four hours, and all we had time to eat was Wonderburger." Blair made a disgusted face.

"Well, that's awful, Blue Bird, I'm dragging you home to Em, she said she was going to make your favorite." Evan grinned, "I had specific orders to bring it to you for lunch tomorrow if you had plans tonight."

"My favorite?" Blair asked, "That sounds good, actually."

"Yep, so get your coat, Blue." Evan demanded, "Em hasn't gotten more patient."

"But she's gotten pregnant." Blair teased, "You guys find out what it is yet?"

"A girl. She keeps threatening to name her Blair when I piss her off."

"She still threatening to leave you for me?" Blair asked as he shrugged his coat on.

"Only when I piss her off." Evan said, slinging his arm around Blair's shoulders and Blair tried to ignore the frowns and tensing of the Major Crimes detectives.

"Which is every other hour."

"Too right, even when I'm at work I manage." Evan laughed.

Blair shook his head.

"Hey, Sandburg, this guy bothering you?" Brown asked, voice concerned as he stopped their progress.

"What, oh, oh..." Blair turned around and realized that the squad room was not just tense but very concerned about what they were seeing.

"No, I know Evan from my Undergrad, I shared an apartment with his wife Emily." Blair explained loudly, seeing the men in the room relax but also frown in confusion.

"And they often invite you for dinner?" Joel asked.

"Yeah, actually, Emily is very much pregnant and she's been put on diet restriction and apparently Evan can't cook a decent meal to save his life." Blair teased the man.

Evan scowled at Blair, "I haven't killed anyone, yet."

"'Yet'." Blair poked fun.

"Man, you're lucky it's your birthday, Blue." Evan tugged nudged Blair's shoulder.

"What?" Blair asked, as shocked as the rest of the squad room.

"You really forgot." Evan realized, the man shook his head at the ridiculous man, "Man, you are so lucky Em keeps a date book and penned your birthday in for the next five years. Come on, she baked a double fudge cake yesterday for today and it's been calling my name since she pulled it from the oven."

Evan dragged Blair towards the exit of the Major Crimes squad room, turning back to toss out, "He'll sleep over, we'll return him in the morning, bye."

The men of Major Crimes stare after them in shock.

"His birthday?" Joel finally said, "You know, Jim?"

Jim shook his head, feeling guilty for not realizing, "I don't think he's ever even mentioned his birthday to me."

"What about this friendship with Lenards?" Simon asked.

"I don't know, he's friendly with a lot of people, Simon, he walks down a street and twenty people will wave and smile at him, and those are the ones that don't stop to talk." Jim sighed, "But he doesn't socialize here like he does at Rainer, or even at the store."

"You think we should be concerned?" Simon asked.

An officer behind them snorted.

They all turned to stare at him.

"You really don't know, do you?" The officer asked.

"Know what?" Simon growled.

"Look, Sandburg is Major Crimes, he may not be a cop but he's one of us." The officer said, they nodded in acknowledgement, "Well, Sandburg knows people in every department, some of the men in Vice have asked him how to blend in on occasion when they've had to go undercover, Narcotics sometimes asks the kid about dealers, he doesn't do drugs but some of the kids he's got, well, they'll talk to him over a cop and he's got some friends that own a rehab clinic or whatever that he takes the kids to."

There was silence as the officer let that sink in before continuing, "That's not mentioning the fact he set Vera up with her fianc and has lived with or dated the wives or girlfriends of over half a dozen of the cops that work here, the rumor is the kid makes life matches and I haven't heard of a single couple he's introduced to one another breaking up." The officer snorted, "And you just call him your mascot."

The officer walked away rolling his eyes.

"You know that explains some of the comments I've gotten from the other Captains." Simon mused.

"So, what now?" Rafe asked.

"A party?" Henri suggested.

Jim shook his head as the others began making plans and throwing out ideas, wandering away and to his truck, heading home, wondering how he could make this up to Blair.

* * *

"Wanna go home." Blair whined as Evan tried to tuck Blair into the guest bed, "Bed's too hard, no Jim." Bair whined some more.

Evan sighed as his wife laughed from the doorway.

They had had a mini party with some of their old friends, the ones they had mutually with Blair and one of them had challenged Blair to a drinking contest, Evan was sure Blair had consumed at least half a bottle of whiskey and a whole bottle of Vodka, man, could Blue drink, what's worse was he never had a hangover the morning after, it was completely unfair.

"Wan' Jim." Blair whined from under a pillow, and Evan wasn't sure how he'd even gotten the pillow over his face.

"Jim's sleeping." Emily giggled.

"Nooooo, bless'd pr'tect'r. No sleep for us." Blair muttered.

"Us?" Evan prodded, he'd heard about Ellison's daring rescue of Blair from the headcase David Lash but that 'us' sounded like the whole blessed protector thing was mutual.

"Sav'd Jim when we met, garbage truck zooomed over us. Was scary, no' cool." Blair slurred.

"Ah, well, it's time for good little Anthropologists to go to sleep." Evan tried to get Blair to close his eyes.

Blair squinted up at him, "Want Jim." Blair whined instead.

Evan sighed, "Fine."

Emily laughed and wandered down the stairs to call Ellison while Evan got Blair up and safely down the stairs.

Ellison arrived half an hour later and frowned at Blair's blurry-eyed drunk state.

"One of the guys challenged him to a drinking contest." Evan explained, "He won. But he's also plastered, and refused to go to sleep in the guest room."

"Wanna go home." Blair smiled goofily as he clutched at Jim and leaned into his side, "I like home, nev'r had one before, s'nice." Blair closed his eyes as his head dropped against Jim's shoulder.

"Look, I have to ask that you hold nothing he says tonight against him." Emily said standing next to Evan, looking at Blair fondly, "Blair's birthdays have never been a big thing, if you've met Naomi you can guess why, but even when Blair got older he never made a big fuss, heck, it was a big deal if he even hung around you on his birthday. When we lived together, he just vanished, like we were about to file a missing person's report vanished, for a whole week surrounding today. He never said where he went but the same week the following year he did the same, it was four years of knowing him before he even mentioned today being his birthday and he never said anything after that about it."

Emily shrugged, "We just started to have a gathering, no presents, no big birthday declarations but Blair would hang around, and he'd tell stories, he has the best stories."

Jim smiled fondly, "He does."

"He ever tell you about his Maman?" Emily asked.

Jim shook his head.

"Ah, Maman is a trip, look forward to that." Emily smiled, "Take him on home."

Jim wanted to ask but it would mean more when Blair finally told him himself. Jim looked down at Blair, the other man had been asleep since he leaned his head on Jim's shoulder and Jim had always envied Blair's ability to sleep standing up, sometimes with his eyes open, at least when it didn't freak him out.

Jim lifted Blair up in his arms bridal style, "You mind getting the door?"

The couple walked him to the door and Jim heard Emily slap Evan as he put Blair in the car.

"Why do you never carry me like that anymore?" She asked, there was a pause, "And if you say because I'm pregnant Blair and I will run away and join that commune that is up in the mountains and baby Blair will run wild and naked through the trees."

Jim shook his head as he tuned them out and climbed into the truck to take Blair home.

* * *

Jim carried Blair up to the Loft, managing to open the door without dropping the sleeping man.

When he went to put Blair in his bed Blair blinked his eyes open and stared at him.

"Jim." Blair whispered.

"Yeah, Chief, you're home." Jim smiled at Blair as he unwound the other's arms from his neck.

"Staayy." Blair whined, clinging.

"I'm going to get you a glass of water, I'll be right back." Jim said.

"Promise?" Blair asked as he finally let Jim pull away.

"Yeah, promise." Jim said, walking away to get a glass of water to have Blair drink and a couple of aspirin for the morning.

Blair was already dozing when he returned and Jim smiled at him fondly as he helped a whiny Blair sit up to drink the water. Jim pulled away again to refill the glass for morning and Blair grabbed his wrist.

"Don't go." Blair whispered, staring up at Jim.

"I was just refilling the glass." Jim explained.

Blair shook his head, "Please, don't leave me alone. Always alone, even when so many people are here. I don't wanna be alone, s'cold, scary, stay?" Blair whispered.

Jim gazed at Blair's pleading eyes, "Okay, kid, I'll stay." Jim said instead of trying to explain to Drunk Blair that he wasn't leaving him alone.

Blair smiled and shifted over, lifting the blanket Jim had gotten him under.

Jim froze, he hadn't realized Blair meant it like that.

"Blair." Jim started but Blair's face fell and Jim sighed, "We're going to talk in the morning."

Jim climbed into the bed and let Blair tuck himself into his side with a quiet hum and Jim threaded his fingers through Blair's curls, feeling guilty for doing so when the man was out of it.

"Love Jim." Blair murmured before his heartbeat evened out and his breathing calmed.

Jim listened to Blair's heart beat, letting the soft rhythm send him into sleep as well.

* * *

Blair woke slowly, he was warm, usually he was cold, even under all his blankets and he frowned sleepily.

"Awake?" Jim asked.

Blair startled and it was probably a good thing that Jim had decided to put him on the inside of the bed.

"Jim!" Blair shouted.

"Calm down, nothing happened, you just refused to let me leave." Jim said as he sat up.

Blair buried his face in his pillow.

"Did I do anything else?" He asked, muffled by the pillow.

"We need to talk, Blair." Jim said as he stood up from the bed.

Blair's heartbeat quickened and Jim could smell the spike of fear in Blair's scent.

"Are you going to make me leave?" Blair asked quietly, turning his face to look at Jim.

"What?" Jim asked, startled, "No, I'm not going to make you leave, this is your home too."

Blair gave a hiccupping gasp.

"Blair?" Jim asked, hand resting on the back of Blair's head as he hid his face in the pillow again, "What is it now?"

Blair sniffled, turning his head, "You've never said that before."

"What?" Jim asked, confused.

"You've never called this my home before, I mean I've been calling it home, in my head, but you, you never called this my home before." Blair whispered knowing that Jim would hear it no matter how quiet he was.

Jim frowned and realized that Blair was right.

"Blair." Jim said softly, thumb stroking Blair's cheek and Jim belatedly realized how intimate this moment was, his fingers still tangled in Blair's soft curls.

"Jim?" Blair asked.

"Your friend told me to not hold anything you said against you." Jim said.

"God, what did I say?" Blair groaned.

"You said you loved me." Jim told him.

Blair closed his eyes tightly, "Jim..." He started.

"Blair, I... I want to hold you to that, whether it's just friends or more." Jim said, voice tight.

Blair opened his eyes to look at Jim, "You..., you love me like that?"

"Yeah, I know I don't really show it or say it, but yeah, I want that, but I can make due with what you can give, I've done it before." Jim said, looking away.

"Me too." Blair whispered.

Jim looked at Blair sharply.

"Made due with what I had, I mean." Blair clarified, "Maman used to say I was good at making something from nothing."

Jim shifted to lay back down with Blair, letting the man shift to lay his head on Jim's shoulder.

"Who's Maman?" Jim asked.

"Ah, Maman, they are one of the prostitutes that I lived with when I was seven." Blair said, "They are awesome, you'll like them."

"Prostitutes?" Jim asked, surprised, "Where was Naomi?"

"Can't remember, but Maman kind of adopted me and one thing you do not do in L.A is piss Maman off, they are terrifying." Blair grinned.

"Is Maman a nickname?" Jim asked, "For future reference if I meet her."

Blair looked at Jim, "Maman's isn't female, they are complicated, they prefer neutral terms, but I was so young and well, they were kind of like a mom and also a man so I started calling them Maman and they allowed it." Blair shrugged, "I never really cared, they were just my Maman, you know."

Jim chuckled, "Of course you would just find that normal."

Blair grinned against Jim's shoulder, "You know I think this might have been the best birthday I've ever had."

"Oh?" Jim asked.

Blair looked up at Jim, "Yeah, I actually got what I wanted."

Jim smiled and pressed a kiss to Blair's hair, "Yeah, me too."

* * *

A/N: I want to do a fic about the rest of Major Crimes throwing a party for Blair but I haven't been inspired for writing it yet so, we'll see how that goes.


	3. Chapter 3

Summary: Major Crimes throws Blair a party for his birthday, it may be late but, better late than never, right?

* * *

Jim paused as they stepped out of the elevator, cocking his head like he always did when he used his hearing.

"What is it, Jim?" Blair asked, hand going to Jim's arm as he looked at him.

"Sorry, Chief, I forgot." Jim said.

"Forgot about what?" Blair asked.

"Forgot about Lenards revealing your birthday and the guys planning a party for you." Jim winced, expecting Blair to be mad.

Blair laughed, "It's fine, Jim, I've never had a birthday party before."

Blair began walking again, dragging Jim with him, smiling, waving, and nodding to the people they passed.

"You're going to want to dial down your hearing, Jim, they are probably going to yell." Blair said, pausing outside the doors of Major Crimes' bullpen.

"Right." Jim said choosing to ignore Blair's earlier comment about birthday parties.

Blair grinned and opened the doors, stepping through with Jim.

"SURPRISE!" Everyone yelled.

"Guys." Blair said with a wide smile, "You really didn't have to."

"Jim warned you, didn't he?" Simon growled with a glare at Jim.

"Yeah." Blair admitted, "But this is still awesome."

"Come on, there's food over here and Rhonda said you get first choice." Henri said, throwing an arm around Blair's shoulders and dragging him over to a couple desks that had been cleared and set up with trays of food.

"Hey, I recognize that!" Blair pointed to a dish.

"Oh! Good! What is it?" Joel asked staring at the strange dish.

Blair didn't answer as his eyes roamed over the dishes. He turned to face the room.

"Did you all use my recipes for this?" Blair asked softly.

"Yeah, we had to ask around for some of them and most people were reluctant to share so they made up the dish and dropped them off this morning." Simon explained.

Blair stared at them all and suddenly the room felt very small and his eyes stung.

"I...I..." Blair ran, not to an exit but to Simon's office, slamming the door loudly.

"Did we do something wrong?" Joel asked Jim.

"I think he's just overwhelmed." Jim said, "He's never had a proper birthday party."

Jim walked to the office and knocked, "Blair, it's Jim, can I come in?"

After a moment the door opened and Jim entered the room, closing the door behind him.

Simon sighed, "It's my office."

They all laughed.

"Sandburg could probably convince the commissioner that he needs one, make it his." Rafe teased.

"Alright, while we're waiting for them to come back and join us, Brown, Rafe, how are you doing on the Torres case?" Simon asked.

Ten minutes later Jim and Blair emerged, Blair's eyes a bit red.

"Sorry, guys." Blair smiled sheepishly.

"No big, Sandburg, want to explain?" Joel asked gently.

Blair shifted, "We never did stuff for my birthday, mom just called me her spring child, until Rainer I didn't even know my date of birth." Blair shrugged, "I just... you... you all wen out of your way to get stuff I like." Blair smiled, "Thank you."

They all grinned back at him.

"We had fun doing it, most of the food came with stories about where it came from." Rafe said, "I found it very interesting."

"You snored when Vera told us about the dish she brought." Henri accused.

"Hearsay." Rafe cried, "Slander."

Blair laughed.

Joel came to stand next to Blair, "I was really asking what that one dish was."

And Joel watched with warmth in his heart as Blair began a story about the origins of the dish, not really hearing the words but enjoying Blair's excitement as he explained one dish after another as Jim put some on plates for him and Blair.

The rest of Major Crimes found something to try and learned that most of the dishes tasted great if a bit strange.

Maybe Blair wasn't just a mascot, maybe Blair was as much one of them as someone who had gone through the Academy, maybe more so.

Joel found Simon's eyes and they nodded, they were going to find a way to make it official.

Blair was one of them after all.


	4. Chapter 4

Summary: An old friend appears.

* * *

Blair walked out of the stairwell, ever since Galileo Blair had avoided elevators unless either Jim or Simon were with him, sometimes even Joel.

Blair had actually missed being at the station, stuck at Rainer with finals, both taking them and giving them, he'd have to grade them the next few nights, not to mention all of the last minute questions and demands for extra credit he'd gotten.

He entered the bullpen and paused to watch Simon and Joel struggling with a large man that was resisting their efforts to get him to sit down.

"Illya!" Blair cried out happily once he saw the man's face.

"Pasha!" Illya stilled as he stared at Blair, surprised to see him here of all places.

"You know this man, Sandburg?" Simon shouted.

"Yes." Blair frowned, " Illya, why don't you sit while I go and talk with Simon?"

Illya glared at the two cops but nodded once and sat down, squeezing into one of their guest chairs.

Blair followed Simon over to the desk he usually shared with Jim, "What's going on, Simon?" Blair asked quietly staying within Illya's sight while Joel glared down at the large man.

"Artemii Ivanov has been murdered." Simon told Blair quietly, "Jim is at the scene with Brown, that man is the only person found at the scene, he's our main suspect at the moment."

"No way." Blair said.

"Sandburg." Simon sighed, rubbing his temples.

"Illya wouldn't kill 'Temii." Blair insisted.

"'Temii?" Simon asked, "Never mind. What's your reasoning?"

"Because Illya has always been in love with 'Temii." Blair said.

"A lot of people kill the ones they love, Blair." Simon pouted out softly.

"Then why didn't he run away? Flee the scene? I bet he was even trying to stop 'Temii's bleeding." Blair said.

Simon sighed because the last part had been true, the man had been trying to halt Ivanov's bleeding, "He's only a suspect, Sandburg, we'll see what the evidence says, either way he is Russian Mafia. How do you even know him?"

"Naomi dated 'Temii for a year, one of her longest relationship." Blair explained.

"Are you sure you don't want a lawyer?" Blair heard Joel ask.

Blair turned away from Simon to look over at Illya and Joel in time to see Illya level a glare at Joel and begin muttering in Russian.

"Illya!" Blair shouted, startling the room.

Blar raised an eyebrow once the man turned to look at him, Blair's arms crossed over his chest, mouth set in a frown.

"My apologies." The large Russian man muttered as he sunk deeper into his seat, arms crossing over his own chest.

"You know what? I don't want to know." Simon said gruffly, as surprised as the rest of the room at the way Blair managed to cow the Russian man, "You stay with our friend here."

Simon then walked into his office to make some calls, leaving the door open.

"You got a recorder, Joel?" Blair asked returning to Joel's desk.

"Yeah, why?"

"I was going to ask Illya some things, might as well tape it." Blair said with a shrug.

Joel nodded, "I can see if Interrogation is free."

"Nah." Blair took the recorder and checked it, "But you might want to find a Russian translator."

Joel frowned as he watched Blair sit next to their suspect and then his eyes widened as Blair began to speak Russian after turning on the recorder.

* * *

Jim walked in with Henri and frowned when he saw Blair with the man they found at the scene, speaking what have been Russian.

"They've been talking for twenty minutes." Joel said from next to Jim, "Blair seems to know him, you know that, Jim?"

Jim shook his head, "We're going to have to interview him."

"I found a translator, Blair's been recording the whole thing, I think he's interviewing him. The guy seemed more comfortable with Blair anyway." Joel explained.

"Who is this guy? We find that out?" Jim asked as he stared at the two speaking Russian.

"His name is Illya Kuznetsov." Rafe said as he came to stand with the other men, "He is affiliated with the Russian Mafia in New Jersey, along with our victim, Artemii Ivanov. Our victim was the head of the Russian Mafia, he has never announced an heir according to the FBI, word has been that they have been trying to legitimize, most of their allies are pissed, as for those within the Family there hasn't been any arguing or rebellion, they seem happy to go straight."

Kuznetsov looked away from Blair and locked eyes with Jim, face falling into a glare.

Blair frowned at the change in Kuznetsov's face and turned after the Russian asked him something, eyes finding Jim's and smiling at the man.

"Jim." Blair said, he turned back to Illya, "Excuse me a moment."

Illya nodded and Blair stood, walking towards Jim and the others.

"Let's go to Simon's office, Jim redirected Blair.

"Illya, saty here, don't try to leave, okay?" Blair said to the man.

Illya stared up at Blair with his deep green eyes before he nodded once.

"I'm leaving the recorder if you want to keep talking, alright?" Blair said as he switched the tape in the recorder for a blank one, handing the the filled tape to Joel.

"Yes, Pasha." Illya said, "Go on."

Blair nodded and followed the group into Simon's office, closing the door behind him.

"What do we know?" Simon asked as he looked at his detectives and observer.

"Artemii Ivanov, shot twice in the chest and once in the head, we have to wait for ballistics, I've never seen bullets like that." Brown said.

"Have you sent them to evidence?" Simon asked.

"That was our next stop." Brown said holding out the bullets he'd pulled from the wall.

"Can I see that?" Blair asked holding out his hand.

Simon nodded at Brown's questioning look.

"Wow." Blair whispered holding the evidence bag up to see them better.

"What?" Rafe asked.

Blair looked at them, "It's from a Colt model 1900. All of 'Temii's people have them."

"Great." Simon said sarcastically.

"And does our suspect have one?" Henri asked.

"Hell, I have one." Blair snorted.

"What?" They all stared at Blair in shock.

"Illya taught me to shoot, I just never liked it much, so he never made me do it after I got certified, which I keep up to date, I just don't carry even though I could, 'Temii made me get that certificate." Blair explained.

"Just curious." Jim started, "How old were you?"

"Thirteen. it was before Mom found out just who 'Temii was, he's one of the few people who got a warning before we vanished." Blair shrugged a little.

"And you're absolutely sure this guy wouldn't shoot our victim?" Simon asked.

"Simon, Illya and 'Temii were in love but 'Temii always felt he had to have a child and Illya understood and agreed, as long as when everything was said, done and over 'Temii came back to him, Illya put up with the women. I was pretty much the only kid that came along with the women that he actually liked." Blair said.

"Did you know they were in town?" Rafe had to ask.

Blair shook his head, "But I haven't been to the loft, there might be a message to ask me to dinner on the answering machine."

"How about our suspect?" Simon asked.

"Illya Kuznetsov, bodyguard and suspected hitman." Rafe said, "Also Russian Mafia, like Ivanov, high position in the Family but liked by everyone."

"He's not our guy though." Brown said, "We watched the security tapes, Kuznetsov was at the reception desk talking to the woman there for twenty minutes while Ivanov was being murdered. He arrived back at the room just before the police arrived."

"But the gun was probably his." Jim said.

Blair nodded, "Illya doesn't like to carry around civilians."

"So, it looks like someone went through a lot of trouble to frame this guy." Joel said, "Why?"

"Power?" Rafe said, "Who inherits if Ivanov dies?"

"If 'Temii's will hasn't changed?" Blair asked.

Simon nodded, "Let's assume so. Does Kuznetsov inherit?"

Blair shook his head and then explained at the confused looks, "No, Illya doesn't inherit, not the Family anyway, he gets a nice little cabin up in the mountains here, they met here and it's always been their getaway place, they've stopped in to see me a few times."

"So, who gets everything else?" Joel asked.

"Well... I do." Blair said with a shrug.

"You're kidding?" Simon said.

"No, 'Temii always said it was just until he had a son of his own and mom allowed it and never asked him to change it after we left."

"We have to ask, Chief." Jim said.

"I know, I'm pretty sure I was taking a final or giving one." Blair said.

Simon nodded, "You can't work this case, Sandburg."

"I hear that, is the interview I did with Illya good?" Blair asked.

"We'll have the translator go through it, being in Russian and not translating, it should be fine, I doubt he'll talk to anyone else." Joel assured him.

"Russian?" Simon asked.

"Yeah, you'd be surprised how many languages I can speak. I was a world traveler." Blair teased them.

They laughed.

Blair frowned, "What about Illya, are you going to put him in holding?"

"We have to." Simon said.

"Can... can I stay with him? It's just, he lost 'Temii and they always called each other husband you know, I don't think he should be alone right now." Blair explained.

"Fine." Simon agreed.

"Simon." Jim protested.

"Jim." Blair stopped him, "Illya looked after me that year Naomi dated 'Temii, I called him dad after the first time he took a bullet to protect me. He's as much my family as you guys are, and 'Temii was too. I want you to find who killed him and you can't focus if you worry about me instead. Illya will look after me."

"I always worry about you, Chief." Jim said, looking at Blair, " Fine stay here, if you are the heir apparent it's probably unsafe for you to be wandering around anyway."

Simon nodded, "Joel, you and jim are partnered for this case."

Jim nodded, Joel had been the first to notice Jim's leaps of apparent faith that panned out into truths, he'd confronted Jim, promising to keep whatever it was to himself, so Jim had told Joel, daring to trust the other man with his secret. They had brought Brown and Rafe in on the secret as well at the next poker night and Blair had taught them all how to recognize the beginning of a zone out and when Blair couldn't make it to the station because of his obligations at Rainer someone else could go with Jim and Blair was assured that Jim would be safe, even if Blair could bring Jim out of his Zone quicker than the rest of them. Joel was the next best after Simon but Simon couldn't always follow Jim into the field.

"Alright, anything else I should know?" Simon asked.

"Someone should check my safe, the one where I keep my gun, just in case." Blair said, "They might be trying to frame me if not Illya."

Rafe nodded, "Give me the details."

Blair nodded and grabbed a pen and paper before heading out to talk to Illya.

* * *

Illya and Blair sat in holding for two daysbefore Jim and Simon came down to tell them the case was closed. Blair and Illya had been treated better than most who ended up in holding, brought home made food and given blankets that Blair had made up into a next on the floor where he and Illya had cuddled during the night.

"So?" Blair asked when Jim and Simon arrived, the on duty officer opening the cell.

"A rival Mafia head used Kuznetsov's gun to kill Ivanov." Jim stated, "We found his prints and him leaving the room on a wedding tape."

"Good." Illya said, "Name?"

"No." Blair protested, "No names."

Illya growled at Blair in Russian.

"I know." Blair said, "But you can't, Illya, because I can't go to New Jersey. I'm needed here."

Illya frowned at him.

"My home is here." Blair whispered in quiet Russian.

Illya stared at Blair for a long moment before he nodded, "Alright, Pasha."

Blair smiled, a little sadly.

* * *

Jim and Blair were driving back to the loft after dropping Illya off at the airport.

"So..." Jim started.

Blair turned to Jim.

"The Russian Mafia?" Jim asked.

"Naomi hardly knew who he was to start, we were gone as soon as she found out and explained why she felt it was better for us to leave." Blair shrugged, "Every now and again I'd call to make sure they didn't send anyone after us, it was part of our agreement, updates once a year or warning before we went off the grid and an estimated date of return. They were thrilled when I went to Rainer. You wouldn't believe how many Russians took Anthropology after my second semester." Blair laughed.

Jim glanced at Blair and smiled, it was good to hear Blair laugh after the last week, what with the trail for the murder of Artemii Ivanov and the memorial service for him, the body cremated so Illya could take his lover home to New Jersey.

"What?" Blair asked when he noticed Jim's gaze.

"He threatened to end me if I hurt you." Jim told Blair.

"Yeah?" Blair laughed a little, "Were you scared?"

"Hey, a mob hitman threatened bodily harm if I broke your heart!" Jim cried, "Aren't you concerned for my life?"

"Jim." Blair began, "Illya knows very well that that if you hurt me I can do more damage than he ever could even try to."

"I agree." Jim acknowledged, "It's a good thing I don't plan on hurting you."

Jim parked the truck and they entered the building and then the loft.

Blair began to walk to the little room that had become an office when he'd moved up to Jim's bed.

"Hey, Chief?" Jim asked.

"Yeah, Jim?" Blair turned around to look at Jim.

"You okay?" Jim asked.

"I will be, 'Temii always believed in me, believed I'd find a Sentinel, even when everyone else laughed, hell, he's paid for most of my schooling, not wanting me to take out loans for it, but I considered it a loan so I was paying it back. He put it all in an account, made it a scholarship fund for Cultural Anthropology, it's called the Blue Bird fund." Blair said softly, "He was as much a father to me as Illya was, more than Naomi ever was really. If it was fun or interesting he took me along, Illya would take me to nearby museums or the park, he even took me to talks and things and if 'Temii could he'd come along, you know."

"Hey, it's okay to miss them." Jim told him.

"I know, it's just... no one else is going to remember that 'Temii, just me and Illya, not even Naomi saw that side of him, 'Temii was different with here."

"As long as someone remembers him like that, that's all that matters." Jim said pulling Blair into a hug.

"Yeah." Blair whispered, "Thank you."

"For what?"

"For finding that man who killed him for letting Illya stay here instead of a hotel, for holding my hand during the services." Blair listed.

"Hey, when my heart decided on you I got everything you had, even if they ended up being Mafia, we're just glad that they are legitimizing. Makes it less complicated." Jim said.

"I suppose." Blair grinned.

"Why don't you go lay down, I'll cook, we have tomorrow off, Simon's orders." Jim told him.

"Okay." Blair agreed, "Come lay with me when it's done, we can eat later."

Jim nodded, "Go on."

* * *

A/N: So, somehow in this world homophobia either doesn't exist or everyone in the department doesn't care because Blair's influence and they all agree that he and Jim are together, even if they haven't said so, and regardless of personal feelings Cops protect their own so... they all agreed that when Blair and Jim announce their relationship they've got their backs, especially their Non-cop cop who cares about them without having to.

Also, how is it that Blair only seems to know English in fics? A world traveler and Anthropologist would have picked up at least a few words in other languages, if not the entire language.

So, Blair knows Russian as well as several other languages in this series.

This was my attempt at a case fic.

Also, Blair can shoot and carry he just really doesn't like to or want to but Illya wanted him able to defend himself if it ever came down to it so, Illya also taught him to speak Russian.


End file.
